Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I finished listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages tonight, which means I’m done with the series–unless Trenton Lee Stewart decides to add to it ten more years down the road.  Who knows?  For now, however, I can pass Riddle of Ages along to my oldest and turn my attention to other things.  As for how I liked it, well–I think, tonight, you get a list review.  Because my food storage/guest room is beautifully cleaned up, 3.5 quarts of tomatoes have been blanched, peeled, cut, and frozen, and children have been taxied to all of their various activities for the day…and I’m poopered.

1.   I did enjoy this more than the prequel, but it feels a little unfair to compare the two.  In many ways, they’re different sorts of books entirely, whereas the four main Benedict books are the same sort.  Also, does a prequel count as part of a quintet, or is it a quartet with a prequel on the side?
2.   The different-because-the-kids-have-aged dynamic of the group was interesting.  Not badly done, either.
3.   To be honest, I wasn’t excited about Mr. Curtain and the Ten Men being the villains again.  That said, it wasn’t actually as annoying as I feared, due mostly to the different setup of the plot.
4.   I’m terribly glad that Stewart recognized the need to approach the Society’s conflict with McCracken differently this time.  He’s done all that can possibly be done (depending on my mood, I might say AND MORE!) with the Milligan-and/or-Kate-vs.-McCracken in an epic battle idea, and I was actually dreading having to go through it again.
5.   I liked the growth of the characters.  And the ending.

There you go, folks.  A must for series fans, although the series really must be read in order.  And for not-yet-fans who like the close-knit-kid-group-saving-the-world idea, the Benedict books are definitely for you!

When I received my ARE of Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire, I was entering into the end-of-the-school-year busyness that every parent of elementary schoolers can sympathize with.  (The awards ceremonies!  The programs!  The recitals!  The EVERYTHING!)  By the time I made it out of the school year alive, however, we jumped into swimming lesson madness, and THEN there was only a brief hiatus before the JULY OF ALL THE TRIPS.  (I told Britt at one point that July was only about 6 seconds long, and she replied “Yes–and you spent all of them packing.”  SO true.)  And while life doesn’t necessarily seem like it’s slowed down ALL that much (sorry, this is also the post of all the caps), Center’s book became available in audio through my trusty county library system, and so I finally got to enjoy it.

And seriously–did I ever enjoy it.  First of all, if you can swing it, the audio is sheer pleasure if you’re an East Coast transplant and get sentimental at the sound of pretty much ANY New England accent.  (Props to the narrator, because she was awesome.)  Even if you stick with the hard copy, however, you won’t be disappointed.  Cassie’s voice is funny, poignant, and honest, and I liked the supporting cast as well.  There were a couple of descriptions of people that dipped into straight-out romance-y language, but Things You Save isn’t just fluff–it’s like a good pillow top mattress.  I need the pillowed top so that my muscles can relax and my edges don’t get sore, but the support underneath matters just as much.  It’s the combination that makes for a good night’s sleep…or a thoroughly enjoyable read.  This is a book about reconciliation and healing as much as about love, with a happy ending and an impressively rendered (read:  successfully but not explicitly) love scene.  If any of that sounds appealing to you, you’re pretty much guaranteed to like this book; it’s going with me on my next trip to Idaho so that my sister can borrow it.*

*Just borrow, though.  Sorry, Favorite Sister–you can’t keep this one!

Since I finished another book today, I figured I’d better just go ahead and review it now before I get even more behind, right?  Besides, Nightmare Escape (Dream Jumper, Book 1) is the sort of graphic novel that my second girlie is likely to go nuts for, so the sooner the better.

I actually enjoyed it more than I expected to, to be honest.  Fast-paced and not terribly text-heavy, Nightmare Escape follows Ben through a land of nightmares, where he discovers his identity as a dream jumper and attempts to use his newfound powers to free those trapped in their nightmares, including some of his classmates.  The characters are drawn with humor and it’s a fun adventure all the way through, even if the climax felt slightly rushed to me.  This ought to appeal graphic novel and adventure lovers from 2nd-3rd grade on up–enjoy!

You know those books that lend themselves beautifully to reading in small chunks?  I finally finished one of those!  I received an ARC of Quackery:  A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything ages ago, but life got in the way (because CHILDREN).  I finally tucked it into my bathroom drawer, made significant progress on it, and then carried it around with me to various places until last weekend, when I finished it on my last night in Rhode Island.

It was seriously fascinating.

Quackery is written in a gossipy, conversational style, and yet it packs in the information pretty impressively.  It’s divided into sections, like ‘Elements,’ which are further divided into chapters, such as ‘Mercury’ and ‘Gold’.  My favorite parts, however, were very possibly the ‘Hall of Shame’ bits sprinkled throughout.  (Seriously.  Do not miss the ‘Women’s Health Hall of Shame.’)  Read this book and you’ll learn enough about the crazy side of medicine to satisfy just about any layman I can think of.  (I will say that I found one tidbit that Google considered an urban legend, but the other bits of oddity that I chose to investigate further were corroborated online.)  This isn’t so much a book that you read in one sitting–it would get to be a bit much–but as something to dip into when you have an odd moment, I’d recommend it wholeheartedly.  After all, who wouldn’t want to learn about the tobacco smoke enema kits that were once strategically placed along the banks of the Thames?

I’ll just leave that there…

SO.  If you were assuming I’d be reviewing one of the previously-mentioned books I’d already finished two days ago, well–you’d be wrong.  Instead, you get a review of Boy-Crazy Stacey, the 7th and latest of the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels and the 3rd by Gale Galligan (Raina Telgemeier did the first four), because graphic novels are short reads and my girls will be pushing me to pass it on.  (The two that can read, that is.)  If I review it tonight, they’ll both finish it this weekend, and then back it goes to the library on Monday.  What’s not to love?

Anyway.  I remembered very little of Ann M. Martin’s original novel other than the premise, which seems to be faithfully recreated here:  Stacey and Mary Anne accompanying the Pike family on their beach vacation as paid babysitters to help with the kids.  The graphic novel is on par with its predecessors, I think, with one or two exceptions–as a parent, I didn’t love Mary Anne’s comment about her dad at the very end, and Stacey’s turnaround time made my head spin.  (It’s not that I found her emotional state unrealistic, mind you; it’s just that what happened with it by the end wasn’t quite the message I’d prefer the target age group to get.  That’s the best I can do without spoilers.)  On the other hand, I think the timing and treatment of the chore hat was a lovely message, so there’s that.

Ultimately, the target audience is going to be pleased, and the nostalgia factor makes for a fun read.  Ah, the trip down Memory Lane!

It’s hard to beat going out of town two weekends in a row for turning you into a tired, overwhelmed lump.  And while both trips–the one to Idaho two weekends ago and the one my friend Britt and I took to New England last weekend–were so, so worth it, that doesn’t actually lessen any of the coming home madness.  Laundry?  Kitchen?  School papers and projects for the kids?  Unpacking?

Blog posts?

Yeah, I dropped the ball there before I left, didn’t I?  I was going to try and post on Thursday before leaving for the airport, but that clearly didn’t happen.  (I was also going to try and mail cards to my sister from the different places we went to, but my brain is apparently too old to hold on to ALL of the things it wants to do.)  So here I am, home since Monday evening, trying to decide if I’ve got the will to write about my trip AND review a book, or if I should stick to one or the other.  I’d like to review a book–say, one of the 3 or 4 on my Goodreads “Currently Reading” shelf that I’ve actually finished, so it can move on to one of the various places that my completed books go–but that doesn’t feel nearly as doable as I want it to tonight.  I also want to actually write about my trip, and yet I think what I’ve got motivation enough to do is list out more of an itinerary–while feeling guilty for not being up to more.

Thursday, Oct. 3rd:  Arrived in RI after midnight local time.  Survived with Britt my first ever renting of a car.  (We adulted so hard!)  Managed to drive it safely to our destination and go to bed sometime after 3 am.

Friday, Oct. 4th:  Slept in.  Headed out to Newport around 11-ish and toured Rosecliff.  Successfully found a parking place near the beginning of the Cliff Walk (the parking meter took credit cards) and did a mile or so of it before returning to the car and desperately seeking seafood.  It wasn’t the best I’ve had, but we thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless.  Made it home in one piece, but I slept badly.

Saturday, Oct. 5th:  On the road before 7.  Breakfast courtesy of a Dunkin drive-though.  Drove up to Sharon, VT to visit the birthplace of the prophet Joseph Smith.  Beautiful weather!  From Sharon to Rutland–paying for the Norman Rockwell museum didn’t feel worth it, but lunch at Coach’s Deli was AMAZING.  From Rutland to Bennington–the Robert Frost museum was closed, but we wandered around the grounds and took pictures before heading to his grave.  The church was open past closing time because a couple was there preparing for an event the next day, and so we got to wander around both inside and out.  (They were completely lovely people.)  We hit Amherst, Massachusetts in the dark and Britt took pictures of Emily Dickinson’s house with her flash because we were listening to the Women’s Session of General Conference on my phone.  Home late, but it was a beautiful day.

Sunday, Oct. 6th:  Allie’s doughnuts for breakfast and then a drive around Scituate before heading to the Boston temple to walk around the grounds.  From there we went to York, Maine, and wandered around the rocks at Nubble Light (aka Cape Neddick) in some impressive wind.  The salt spray made us sticky, but the view was no less beautiful for being in shades of grey.  We stopped at Stonewall Kitchen on the way home–no purchases, it being Sunday, but we sampled and pondered the possibility of ordering various products online.  Made it home at a civilized hour and took a stroll in the dark before enjoying some music and turning in.

Monday, Oct. 7th:  Survived the drive to the airport and the returning of the rental car (so much adulting!) before embarking on an uneventful flight home.  It’s always hard for me to fly away from the color and into the brown–but my family was happy to see me.

Book reviews to follow, folks–but tonight, I’m turning in.

I don’t have internet.  AGAIN.

This is after not having internet for most of the day before we left for Idaho last week, on a day when my hubby was out of town (he being the technical talent in our relationship).  My junior high student now has homework for which she must be able to access the internet, by the way.  And she stresses about things.  AND she had hours–quite literally–of homework to do last night.  Could she have done some of it earlier?  Probably.  But still.  When it went out (again) last night, my hubby called Comcast and spent a good part of his evening working on the problem.  The upshot?  They have to send a tech out to do something with the line, and that tech can’t get there until tomorrow morning, and in the meantime, I DON’T HAVE INTERNET.

I am CRANKY about this.

Thankfully, I have good friends; I’m sitting at one of their houses right now, because I didn’t want to skip today’s post.  I finished listening to The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict yesterday, and if I review it, I can return it to the library before my daughter’s hold on the brand-new Mysterious Benedict book comes in.  And everybody wins!

So, the book review.  I did like Extraordinary Education; I don’t know that I loved it, though.  It has a lonelier feel–which is unavoidable, yes, given Nicholas’s story–that affects me as a parent more than it would have affected me as a child.  I ‘m not going to dock it stars for that, but it was definitely a factor in MY reading experience.  Orphaned Nicholas is a lonely, cynical 9-year-old, and his fixation on treasure hunting rather than being a friend lasts longer than I want it to.  (Not unrealistically longer, necessarily, but still.)  My other issue may also be a function of my stage in life, because I also felt the book dragged a bit.  The target audience has more time to read and often likes its mystery/adventure stories to be fat, but I was getting impatient for resolution with more than a hundred pages left to go.  I might be more enthralled with the intricacies of the mystery if that were more my thing, but I’m a historical fiction lover at heart; I’m reading this series more because my oldest LOVES mysteries.  (And puzzles.  And adventure stories).  Ultimately, I think this prequel is best suited for fans of the series, but then again…I’m cranky today.  So I guess you can do with that what you will.

That is why I took care to finished Terri Libenson’s Just Jaime today, folks–self defense.  Because if I had taken ONE MORE DAY to finish it and hand it over to my 10-year-old, she might have spontaneously combusted–after all, how long can a girl endure waiting for an illustrated novel by an author she already knows and likes?–and I would almost certainly have been injured during the fallout.  Once I finish this review (and she finishes the chores I need her to do!), I can pass it on and live another day.

As for the book itself?  Hmmm.  I think it was excellent, really, but it was so painful to read as a parent–the queen mean girl’s adolescent gaslighting, Jaime’s confusion and sadness, and Maya’s torturous mental journey from mean girl’s brainwashing to clear-sighted awareness.  The ending is satisfying, though, and there are delightful touches all along the way, so perhaps my slow progress through it made the hard things worse to experience.  (So many things to do…)  This is a finely told story about friendship, what it is, and what it isn’t, and I’m thinking the 8-12 bracket is going to love it.

Oh, and incidentally, I’m taking the weekend off for some family time.  I’ll see you all on Tuesday!

This past weekend one of my aunts passed away very suddenly, leaving my mother’s youngest sibling widowed and one of my closest cousins motherless in this life.  I grew up far away from my cousins on that side of the family and I mostly saw my aunt at family gatherings; her death, however, was and is a shock.  Aunt Jeanne was a quiet, unassuming woman who always greeted me with kindness; I knew her as a wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt, and a grandmother, and I have never in my life heard a single human being speak critically of her.  Instead, I saw Jeanne quietly doing her part in our family.  What I remember most vividly, perhaps, are her stitches.  My mother’s 3 sisters and 3 sisters-in-law have come together to make quilts for each member of my generation, and I’ve had the privilege of putting a few stitches in one or two of these quilts with my slow, unskilled fingers.  As I’ve done so, I’ve observed the quilting style of each of my aunts, and Jeanne’s stitches made a lasting impression on me–they were tiny, even, and beautifully precise, stitches that held together and did all they were meant to do.  In my (few–I have a 4-year-old) quiet moments in the past few days, those stitches keep coming back to me as a metaphor for her life.  I will not be able to attend her funeral–I have previous commitments to my parents and siblings–and that saddens me.  In lieu of my presence, all I can think to offer is this small tribute to a woman whose life was made up of small, even stitches, the sort of stitches that create, in the end, a work of well-made–and well-lived–beauty.

I’ve been second guessing my review of Stella by Starlight ever since I posted it, wondering if I should have noted the details that didn’t quite ring true.  It’s not that it wasn’t a good story, because it was; it’s that I read Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus right afterwards, and the contrast was marked.  Stella was a pretty good story; Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus is an amazing book.  Like Wonder, it immerses you in a life that few can imagine and makes it so real that you’re living it, too.  Aven Green, born without arms, has just moved from Kansas to Arizona, where she starts 8th grade–late–in a school where no one is accustomed to her armlessness.  It’s there that she meets Connor, a schoolmate with Tourette syndrome, who understands what it’s like to be seen for your disability instead of yourself.  Their friendship shifts their relationships with the world, just as Aven’s discoveries in her new home shift her perspective on her past, and together they find the courage to reach out to the world around them just a little bit more.

Okay, that sounds a little bit generic.  And maybe a little bit cheesy?  I promise, that’s totally on me.  This is the kind of book that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you think, sometimes at the same time.  Aven is a fabulous heroine, and her story will grab you from the very beginning.  There are no buts about it, folks–you should absolutely, positively read this book.